Most Christians and Churches speak of love, and
loving God and Jesus, and about loving their neighbors, but when one looks
closely, their "love" is really quite limited.

A women wrote to us about one such church that
she was attending:

"My daughter and I were at last week's church
dinner and the preacher sat next to me. My 8 year old asked me why so many of
our congregation were eating fried chicken. I leaned over to the preacher and
told her that it's times like this that it is difficult to explain to a child
why as practicing Christians we don't believe in killing God's creatures for
food, when it's not necessary. The preacher silently got up and moved to
another seat. I saw her one time since then and she avoided talking to me."

Was this pastor showing the love of Christ?

No, she wasn't!

The woman spoke the truth about the killing of
animals, and she didn't even go into all the horrors involved in the raising and
killing of animals for their flesh, and the pastor rudely avoided this simple
truth.

And by being rude to this woman, the pastor hurt
her deeply.

True Godly love would never do this!

Which means that the pastor was not loving this
woman and her daughter, either as her neighbors, or according to the love of God, but instead she presented
her love according to the father of lies, the devil.

That's right; this pastor was acting satanically.

Many Christians, pastors, and churches claim to
have many gifts of the Spirit, and most likely the church we are talking about
was one of them, and yet they did not show love.

Paul wrote about this very kind of situation (1
Corinthians 13:1-3):

1 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do
not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

2 And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries
and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do
not have love, I am nothing.

3 And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if
I deliver my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.

This pastor obviously would rather emotionally
hurt this woman than face the truth and risk that her remarks would be heard by
others in the church, and jeopardize her comfy lifestyle.

This woman wasn't being legalistic in her beliefs
and faith, she was being loving and compassionate, and that should have been
applauded and encouraged.

Thus, by her actions, the pastor was actually
denying Jesus, as did the religious leaders and many of the people in His days
upon this earth.

When Jesus was being questioned by the religious
leadership who were trying to find ways of condemning Him (John 8:42-44):

42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would
love Me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even
come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.

43 "Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is
because you cannot hear My word.

44 "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the
desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not
stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a
lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.

In today's world, a person has to be extremely
ignorant, or deaf and blind and unable to read, not to know that there is pain
and suffering involved in bringing animal flesh and bodily secretions to their
tables.

They have to harden their hearts to the suffering
of animals, and in the process, they also harden their hearts to the emotional
pain suffered by compassionate people who care about the animals and want to
stop their pain and suffering.

In the early church, people who didn't eat flesh
were considered saints.

So why would a vegetarian or vegan upset the
churches and people of today so
much that they would be shunned in this way?

It's most likely that they really know the truth
and don't want to face it.

They would rather live in the world and be a part
of it, rather than be loving, compassionate, peacemaking children of God.

It's time that every Christian, and every pastor,
and every church wake up to the truth and face it, and begin to be the people
Jesus called us all to be.

And while we're thinking about this, let's let
Paul tell us how love should really be lived (1 Corinthians 13:4-8):

4 Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love
does not brag and is not arrogant,

5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is
not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,

6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the
truth;

7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.

8 Love never fails;...

Love simply requires us to turn away from the
lies and face the truth, and live as Jesus taught us to live.